And why Braley needs to exit now. Its been great knowing you but don't let the door slam you in the ass on the way out......SammyGreene wrote:It's sure debunking the idea that all the team has to do is win to bring the fans back. Pro sports has never been tougher to sell in this expensive multicultural city. Just ask the Whitecaps who have worked like hell with tarping and marketing strategies yet are still losing $3 million a year according to a Forbes article this week .David wrote:Uggh. I just looked at the map and it will easily be our smallest crowd of the season. Post Labour Day, with an exciting team that's 7-3. I just don't get it.
Sure, we can blame the front office's inability to create a buzz for this team in the marketplace, and a crap schedule that seemingly has them playing a home game once a month, but ultimately this team deserves far better support from the fan base than has been show thus far this year. Shameful.
DH
Lions a victim of purrfect storm? 3-year decline on the field, the Seahawks' surge grabbing the casual fan's football attention, all games now on high def and questionable ticket pricing? Probably. Casual fans have got use to just staying at home and watching games, even when the team is winning and is exciting again. That's the Lions greatest obstacle now.
I am beginning to think we won't see more than 24,000 at BC Place this season.
There is a piece that was circulating "out there" that deals with the monetary value of bums in seats versus tv revenue. The writer used the example of the Argos and how quickly their average crowds quickly fell off after their home opener. Most folks were back in panic mode with the Argos and their poor numbers after that brief honeymoon at the start of the season. The author concluded though that the tv revenue stream is so good that the Argos bottom line will not be hurt if their attendance doesn't improve. I will see if I can find that article and post it for folks to check out.
I would assume, by and large, that would be the case for most, if not all CFL clubs. So if I play devil's advocate why bother spending money to get people in the stadium? I have made my money thanks to TSN, so I am going to coast for the rest of the year. Braley can be a parsimonious SOB as witnessed in the past.
And based on what I have witnessed so far as a fan and season ticket holder (albeit not from Van) there is little to no motivation for the Lion's administration to do SFA to get more people in the seats.
Further to the administration of this club, things seem to be mired in quicksand. The careers section of the Lions website is still listing several job openings; no one of quality wants to work for the Leos? Or they simply haven't gotten around to filling them? The jobs still showing as vacant are:
-Manager or Director, Ticket Sales
-Manager, Ticket Operations and CRM
-Account Executive, Fan Services
-Corporate Partnership Associate
-Community Relations Associate
-Lions Game Ambassador
-Account Executive, Sales
-Inside Sales Representative
I believe these are the same jobs that were available over a month ago. Is this symptomatic of a crappy organizational culture?
The players are doing all they can to get fans in the seats. They are keeping up their end of the bargain but it sure as hell doesn't look like the team's uppermost management is doing the same.